Faisal Islam

Political editor

The Prime Minister will have found the acrobatic performance of Chinese opera in the city of Wuhan a welcome respite from the soap opera at home.

On every leg of her trip, mid-air, Number 10 must have wondered what news would emerge on their secure mobile phones as Theresa May's RAF Voyager touched down into cellular connection range.

The leak of a Brexit impact assessment during her flight to China required her to play down its significance as "very preliminary" and not signed off by ministers.

Then, when she arrived in Wuhan, it appeared her own minister Steve Baker had criticised "always wrong" forecasts from civil servants.

By the time she reached Beijing, another minister - Philip Lee - called for the forecasts to be published as part of an "evidence-based" approach to Brexit and for Government strategy to prevent the negative outcomes predicted.

Mr Lee was then reprimanded by the Chief Whip, as the Opposition secured a release of the documents through a humble address, Tory MPs obliged to abstain not to vote against, even though the Government argued the data could undermine negotiations.

All that against the backdrop of domestic woes for a Prime Minister who had been hoping that her China tour would show she was leading "for the long term" and "for the sake of the country".

She told Sky News that Britain "did not vote for nothing to change when we come out of the EU".

Image:More than anywhere, strength and stability are admired qualities in this nation

Her efforts seem to focus on winning back the Brexit-backing MPs who have supported her premiership since the election disappointment: playing down the Brexit assessment, disciplining Philip Lee, saying things would change, absolutely denying reports that she was negotiating a three year transition period, and taking on Michel Barnier's account of how that phase will function.

But China is also a crucible of what her Brexiteer MPs see as the opportunities that come with an EU exit.

As the world's second biggest economy, it is precisely the sort of place where a more nimble UK could develop post-Brexit trade that is more free.

So far, however, those ambitions seem limited.

In discussions with Premier Li Keqiang, there was some opening up of Chinese agricultural products though a lifting of a BSE ban on beef.

But the discussion on steel capacity was a reminder of the limits of free trade with the industrialising giant of the east.

Try explaining free trade on Chinese steel in Port Talbot.

It is difficult to see much planned in the UK-China trade relationship that would be limited by the issue that so sparked the rebellion of her Brexiteer MPs - reforming a customs union with the EU after Brexit.

Instead, the bulk of the effort here is on existing impediments to trade.

These include educational exchange (though the PM again refused to countenance removing the 150,000 Chinese students in the UK from her net migration target), pharmaceutical investment in British drugs used to treat a type of cancer predominantly found in China, and a firm signing a contract to design an entirely new city.

Image:Theresa May and husband Philip watched a cultural event in Wuhan

The first challenge for this trade mission is focusing on is the woeful comparative export performance of the UK in China under existing EU structures. Germany manages nearly five times as many exports here under exactly the same rules.

Chinese officials joke that not much has changed in the 225 years since Emperor Qianlong wrote to King George III telling him: "I have no use for your country's manufactures".

Instead the Prime Minister got the chance to talk about shared problems, such as plastics polluting the oceans at the River Yangtze. North Korea also remains a problem where Downing Street needs China to remain engaged.

Mrs May has been notably less enthusiastic about China's $900bn global infrastructure successor to the Marshall Plan, called the Belt and Road Initiative. No memorandum was signed with Premier Li. This reflects some fears over standards and the strategic implications of China's push east.

Premier Li did sound a supportive note about the ongoing bilateral relationship post-Brexit.

But more than anywhere, strength and stability are admired qualities in this nation.

Real negotiations with China will have to wait, however, until after a successful outcome with EU, and that requires a more immediate negotiation for this British leader, with some of her own ministers, 5000 miles away.